Former Postal Worker Guilty of Stealing Controlled
Substances from Mail -Thefts took place in Kentucky from 2008 through August 2009

JAN 21 - LOUISVILLE, KY - U.S. Attorney Candace G. Hill of the Western District of Kentucky announced that on January 19, 2010, Joseph Bourg, age 45, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, pled guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance by fraud, and theft of United States mail matter.

The Indictment alleged that between 2008 and August of 2009, while a postal employee, Bourg rifled through the mail and stole gold and silver coins, trading cards, DVDs, and other items from mail letters, cards and packages. Bourg was also alleged to have possessed controlled substances which he improperly took from the mail. The Elizabethtown Post Office received a number of complaints about items that did not reach their intended recipients. During their investigation, investigators observed Bourg take a package from the post office. A search warrant was executed on his home where investigators discovered additional packages of controlled substances along with other items which Bourg admitted to he took from the U.S. mail.

The maximum potential penalties are 17 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of up to 3 years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, and it was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, and the Veteran's Administration Office of Inspector General.

Bourg is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Thomas B. Russell on May 17, 2010, at 12:00 p.m., in Louisville, Kentucky.